Railroad-tie.



A. HEATH.

RAILROAD TIE.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.21,1908. l

91 1,979. Patent-ed Feb. 9, 1909.

ALBERTIIEATH, -OF HARRIS, MICHIGAN.

RAILROAD-TIE Noi 911,979.

.To all whomvit may concern.'

Be 1t known that I, ALBERTHEATH, a

citizen of the United States, 'residing at Harris, in the count f of Menominee and State of Michigan, have invented a new and useful Im rovement in `Railroad-Ties ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates Vto improvements in railroad ties, and designs to provide a tie of improved construction.

'Ihe ordinary tie employed in the construc- .tion of railroads is composed of a bar or" log of wood hewn or sawed into shape and vusually impregnatedy 'vz ith a preservative for lprotecting the tie from .the ravages of the weather and thus prolonging itsusefulness beyond a period which it would naturally have, were it not fory the treatment to which it is subjected.

While many Iefforts have been made to perfect and improve the method of impregnating ties, with suitable reservative slib-- stances, yet it is a practica impossibility to completely saturate the tie throughout, the very heart or center thereof being so far removed from the surface that the preservative substance does not reach this spot. For this reason moisture creeps into the middle of the tie, causing it to ex and,whereas the surface, being impregnate' "'by thesubstance, and exposed to the sun and light is not'afl'ected in the same manner, hence on account of the unequal eX ansion the wood checks or cracks there y destroying, or lat least greatly impairing the usefulness of the tie. rIhese checks or cracks frequently extend clear through the body ofthe tie. Another objec` tion to the ordinary wood tie is its cost, due to the necessity of using material of a certain size and shape, the result being that great wasteof material is occasioned in the production of the ties.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a tie of greater resiliency than the ordinary wood tie, to reduce the cost of production,

and to provide a tie which is impregnated throughout, with a suitable preservative substance.

To such end this invention consists in a tie, the body of which is made up of a num-y ber of sections or Ilayers, of such character that they may be impregnated throughout with a preservative substance and suitably fastened together into one mass.

It further consists in the several novel Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led March 21, 1908. Serial No. 422,390.

f Patented Feb. 9, 190g.

l features hereinafter more fully set forth and g particularly defined in the claims. l 'Ihc invention is clearly illustrated 'in the l drawings accompanying this specification, inl

i which Figure 1 is a perspective -view of atie constructed in accordance with my im roved method. Fig. 2 is across section t e'reof. Fig. 8 is a cross section of a modiiied form of j construction, and Fig. 4 is a cross section of the ordinary wood vtie now `in use.

tie will be seen to consist in a plurality of l superimposed llayers of planksor boards 10, 11, of srch length and width as to prod ce a tie of the Ordinar size. rIhe thickness of the boards depen s upon the desired thickness of the tie andthe number of boards which it is desired to employ in constructing the tie. The size of the ties varies according to certain requirements, but it is obvious that any sized tie .can be built up in accord ance with my im roved method.

In the preferrer form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, an opening is left in the center of the tie narrow boards 11, at the sides of the body, which boards do not reach to the center. All of the boards are rigidly secured together. This maybe done in any suitable manner, here shown, as by nailing them together With nails 12. Each board. is impregnated with a preservative substance 13 (illustrated graphically by the dots in Figs. 2, 3 and 4). This is done before the boards are built up into a tie,`so that when the several boards are secured together the preservative substances will reach and extend throughout the entire body oi' the tie. Anywell known form of preservative may be used, certain of which are known as creosote and zinc preservatives.

In this form a solid body is provided Whichl covered by a top piece of more substantial material'.` The Wear and tear being on the uppersurface ofthe tieit may be found preferable to Aemploy a harder and more durable top layer. In this case also each board I'or strip is im regnated with a preservative subits entire body.

In Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive, the bqd'y of the.

and this is formed by employing one or more Fig. 3 shows a tie built up of'a plurality r of softwood boards 14, and a top board 15 ofj i hard wood all suitably fastened` together.

consists of comparatively cheap lumber,-

stance sot at thetiais saturated throughut l i 110 linto shape, and as the grain ofthe wood does- .not run 1n a perfectly straight line, the grain is crossed more or less, thus affording access to the interior of the board. When the tie is hewn into shape, theseveral directions of the'grain are followed, and the grain is not,

therefore, severed in the same manner as 1t is when it 1s sawed into boards. y When the ordinary tie is impregnated, the reservative enters the tie from the ends, or a distance of about 15 to 20 inches, while practically none ofthe preservative enters for any considerable'distance from the sides, and the center vis therefore una'liected by the preservative. This is illustrated graphically in Fig. 4, where the edges only are shown as affected by the preservative.

. The advantages of m improved construction are apparent. .T e tie bein im reg nated throughout will withstand -t e e ects of the weather for a great length of time, the danger of checking or cracking is minimized and the construction is greatly .cheapened. The danger of checking or splitting is also lessened from driving spikes lnto the tie, inasmuch as each board is inde endent of its adjacent one, and while one oard may split, when the spike enters it, the one below may remain intact. For this reason the spikes obtain a firmer grip in the tie than they do in the ordinary solid wood tie The channel or aperture through the tie provides an air passage for preventlng the accumulation of moisture in the center of the tie, and affording means for its esca c.

While IA have shown an described two formsof construction and arrangement, it is obvious that various other alterations and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of my invention, and I do not, therefore, desire to limit myself to the particular forms shown and described, except as may be necessary by the state of the art to which this invention ertains.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A tie comprising top and bottom layers of wide boards and intermediate layers of narrower boards placed at the outer edges of said wide boards to leave an opening through the tie, all of said boards being nailed together and each of said boards being impregnated with a suitable preservative substance.

2. A tie comprising top and bottom layers of wide boards and intermediate layers of narrower boards placed at the outer edges of said wide boards to leave' an opening through the tie, all of said boards being secured together to form a solid structure.

In Witness whereof I have executed the above application at Chicago, Illinois, this 18th day of March, 1908.

ALBERT HEATH.

Witnesses:

JOHN HEATH, CHARLES O. SHERVEY.- 

